Blonde Ale Recipe- Opinions Please

[Harto]

Hi All,

I'm looking to brew a Blonde Ale at the weekend- something between an ale and a lager, nice and refreshing for a sunny afternoon. I've tried to combine recipes I've found online with ingredients I already have or can source easily to get something that looks like a blonde ale in Beersmith but truth be told, I'm not really sure what I'm doing so I'd appreciate comments on the recipe before I brew a duffer :smile:

Boil size 26.46l
Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG
Estimated Color: 4.0 SRM/ 8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 22.1 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %

Ingredients:
------------
4200g Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
300g Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
200g Caragold (6.1 SRM)
15g Northern Brewer [8.50 %] 60 minutes 14.6 IBUs
15g Citra [12.00 %] -10 minutes 7.5 IBUs
15g Citra [12.00 %] - 0 minutes (flameout) 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast

Many thanks in advance!

 

[clibit]

Well you've made a bloody good job of it in my book! That should make a great blonde ale, all the specs are right and good choice of malts and hops too. I'm not the world's no.1 S-04 fan but plenty of people love it.

 

[Harto]

Thanks very much. I've only used S04 before and don't really know much about different yeasts. If you have any suggestions I'm happy to experiment.

 

[clibit]

If you want to use dried yeast then either stick with S-04, or try US-05, or S33, or Nottingham, or Mauribrew ale if you can find it.

Or you could try a liquid yeast - they cost more, but are better, you can save yeast from the FV to use again, and a style like blonde ale will benefit from a better yeast. You will almost certainly need to order online, Brewuk does a good range of both Wyeast and White Labs liquid yeasts.

 

[TartanSpecial]

I agree with Clibit, that should make a nice balanced light blonde ale.

 

[Covrich]

Looks good

I am going for a similar recipe but using pilsner malt with munich and carapils and cascade hops.. mine is partial mash though

I am using Safale US-05 as I wanted a crisper dryer finish.